Jun. 9, 2014 - 04:21PM
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Lockheed Martin CEO Marillyn Hewson announced plans to hike research and development funding. (Stuart Ramson/Lockheed Martin)

WASHINGTON — Lockheed Martin plans to boost its internal research-and-development (R&D) spending by more than $30 million over the course of the year, Marillyn Hewson, the firm’s chairman, CEO and president, said Monday.

But despite the increase, the company’s investment in these types of projects is still tens of millions of dollars less than it was 15 years ago.

“We are continuing to invest in the business, to invest for making sure we provide our customers the innovation that they come to us for as a technology leader and also to continue to invest for the growth of our company,” Hewson said during a media event in Arlington, Virginia.

In 2013, Lockheed increased its self-funded R&D work by 13 percent, spending about $700 million on these types of projects, Hewson said. The company plans a 5 percent increase in 2014 over last year’s figures.

Still, Lockheed’s internal R&D spending is below the $822 million it spent in 1999. By 2012, the company’s internal R&D fell to $616 million, according to numbers compiled by Capital Alpha Partners, a Washington-based financial analysis group.

Pentagon officials have been pushing companies to spend more on self-funded R&D projects, particularly as government funding for these types of projects has been tightened as defense spending contracts. ■